Introduction

After a century of ongoing influence, Sigmund Freud’s work continues to exhibit a remarkable regenerative power. This is related to the interdisciplinary and hybrid quality of his writings, which elude appropriation by any single interpretive approach. Unquestionably, there are also conceptual problems and contradictions ensuing from this play of opposing tendencies. However, such tensions contribute to the production of multiple levels of meaning and lines of argument that expand the horizons of psychoanalytic inquiry. An inherent conflictual quality fosters plurivocity in a way that keeps the Freudian corpus open to fresh encounters. It may be that if Freud’s work was more consistent and systematized it would also be more one-dimensional.